Antonio's - Day 115 (September 22, 2013)

Seth and Beka have Bible quiz practice on Sunday afternoon.

Today Dennis and I decided to check out a Lafayette restaurant while they were at practice.

Antonio's, across the street from where the kids were meeting, won. 

This was the yummy late lunch/early dinner we shared.

(So worth not worrying about being dairy-free, tomato-free... for an evening)

Getting Ready for School - Day 114 (September 21, 2013)

First - HAPPY BIRTHDAY DENNIS!!!

So sorry I did not get any good birthday type pictures.

Dawned on me that Caleb's math needed installed on the computer. Dennis graciously did so for me. Followed by Caleb doing 5 lessons of math! 

And since Caleb was doing math, Joey HAD to do some math. 

Followed by him dragging 3 more school books near me and playing 

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe as to which he felt he should do next. 

(after all they all have his name on them!)

Off to Quiz Camp They Go - Day 113 (September 20, 2013)

Seth and Beka are both involved with Bible Quizzing at church. 

This weekend they headed to Bend for their first Quiz Camp

Think Beka was a little excited to get to church, on the bus and on her way?!

(and yes,she was told to remove her backpack once I noticed she had it on)

Honest Chocolates - Day 112 (September 19, 2013)

I had actually taken pictures of the impressive harvest moon, but while the moon was impressive my pictures were far from.

And on Friday I got a couple of pictures I wanted to share - so am switching things around a bit.

Friday afternoon Dennis and I went out for his birthday (Saturday) and ended up on the same block as Honest Chocolates (in Carlton). If that close, one must purchase something!

A handmade peanut butter cup and a salted caramel, 

both with dark chocolate. 

Yum! 

Make that 5 - Day 111 (September 18, 2013)

As of today it is Facebook official that our 5th grandbaby is on the way!

Nicole and David are expecting their 2nd on April 29th 

:happy dance:

Woodchucks? - Day 110 (September 17, 2013)

I had told Dennis when he got the woodshed full of wood I wanted to take a picture.

He called me in the afternoon and said I should come get a picture now (why the hurry?!)

Here is what I found! 

Two cute little bugs in the woodpile - and an almost full woodshed. 

The little guys make me smile as does the fact my hubby is prepping to keep me warm this winter. 

1st Day of school... Not! - Day 109 (September 16, 2013)

We have one more week until our scheduled school start date. But someone apparently did not get the memo. Soon after Seth got up this morning I saw him at the dining room table with his stack of new school books. Hmmm, to tell him, or not...

I did, also told him he was more then welcome to jump in. He decided he was happy with waiting another week. 

Made my homeschool mama heart happy that there must be some interest in there for him to get his books and get going on his own!

School Pics - Day 108 (September 15, 2013)

When people start to homeschool there is always a 'what about....' that comes to mind. Be it prom, graduation, socialization.... 

Mine was school pictures.

Not totally sure why, but pictures in general are important to me, including school pictures. So I have made sure to get some kind of school pictures each fall. We have done this in a variety of ways over the years. The last few years (with the exception of the year I took them) we have had Sarah Plett take them for us. I have always been happy with the results. 

Since last fall she has moved about an hour away (Vancouver,Wa), so I was glad to hear she would be in the area for a family get together and willing to take our school pictures on this day. AND it did not rain on us! 

So - while I wait for the official pictures to come in, here is a picture of Sarah taking a picture of my kiddos!

(location - Ed Grenfell park, Yamhill Co, Oregon - it was gorgeous!)

Grammie Sweatshirt - Day 107 (September 14, 2013)

I bought this Grammie sweatshirt before grandbaby #1 was born but have not worn it much. 

This morning was lovely, cool, and overcast - perfect sweatshirt weather.

And while 'my' grandma name is not official yet 

(thinking that won't happen until a couple little ones are chattering a little more clearly) 

Grammie is my first choice. 

Sockies - Day 106 (September 13, 2013)

Wore my lovely socks that were hand knitted for me by a friend (Holly!) 

The socks alone make me smile. 

Getting compliments on them when out and about is good for more smiles. 

Blue Skies - Day 105 (September 12, 2013)

Lovely blue skies! 

Took this picture through our sunroof. 

Thinking our lovely blue sky days are numbered for this year. Working on soaking as much in as I can, to get me through another Oregon winter!

Swinging & Reading - Day 104 (September 11, 2013)

Picture is blurry (he was swinging after all) 

but love seeing my little guy with a book in his hands. 

He claims he can't read, 

but I don't think I believe him! 

Gardening - Day 103 (September 10, 2013)

I do not have a green thumb. I am not crazy about gardening. Just not my thing. 

But every now and then I like to pretend I am a gardener. 

Today was was one of those days. 

At my niece's wedding there were sweet little plants as wedding favors, we got home with five. 

Today Caleb, Joey and I planted our plants back behind the house. 

We are feeling quite accomplished.

And I will enjoy seeing them grow and thinking of and praying for my niece, her new hubby and their marriage.

(and no, I am not sure what is up with the extra blocks and bricks... 

a work in progress I am sure!)

Deer - Day 102 (September 9, 2013)

As much as they drive me crazy (they eat EVERYTHING) seeing deer on our property seldom fails to bring a smile. 
(when they chow down on tulips and hydrangeas, it does make me sad - 

but they are still a beautiful animal)

These two are inside the fence Dennis has built around our future garden (this years septic tank/drain field work kept it from happening this year) 

Looks like Dennis still has a couple holes to fix! 

Count the Days - Day 101 (September 8, 2013)

Confession - 

I did not take any pictures today. Not that there was nothing to smile about, just nothing quite panned out picture wise. 

So today I show you something that may seem silly to many...

A calendar. 

For many years I have had a Mary Engelbreit calendar, except the one year I waited too long to pick one up and they were not to be found, anywhere. 

So sad.

When at the mall the other day there was a kiosk of calendars with my favorite ME one jumping out to be bought. 

Made me smile when I bought it, and will bring many more smiles throughout 2014. 

Happy Couple - Day 100 (September 7, 2013)

Today my niece Candace became Mrs. Ian Simpkins. 

It was a beautiful day in every way!

 

Nana and The Greats - Day 99 (September 6, 2013)

My sister and (most of) her family are up for our niece's wedding on Saturday. 

It was the first time to meet our nephew Mark, and the first time for my parents ('Papa & Nana') to have all three 'Greats' in one place at the same time. We managed to snap this picture quickly before Ruby deserted.

My mom was a reader which makes this picture of her with the great-grandbabies all the more special.

Pretend Birthday Day - Day 98 (September 5, 2013)

The little boys had some birthday money we had intended to spend during little boy camp. But the week flew by and we did not get around to it. So, we grabbed Daddy from work, and after Caleb's speech appt in Newberg we headed to The Mall! Went to Build-a-Bear (our first visit!) and The Lego Store. Had lunch at Red Robin, followed by a trip to Costco. 

On the way home I heard a happy sigh from the backseat along with the statement

 'This was the best day ever' 

Here is Caleb with 'Brutus' and Joey with 'Batbear'
(btw: Batbear giggles, which makes me giggle... very fun)

Getting Ready - Day 97 (September 4, 2013)

We are not starting school until later in Sept. But, that does not mean there is not planning to do.

This year I decided to have the kids weekly assignment sheets bound into books. I added a couple other things as well. 

They may not look like much, but feels like a huge accomplishment to me. 

I am starting to look forward to the start of school. 

(I also had a couple e-books for Joe I printed off and had bound as well)

Guest Corner - Day 96 (September 3, 2013)

If you stay overnight at our house you most likely will sleep in the sewing room. We have a bed in one corner, it seems to work well for a house without any spare bedrooms. I have been wanting to spruce it up for a while, but the budget for this project has been minimal. But this last month a few things have come together. Whenever working in my sewing room seeing this happy corner makes me smile.

I picked up a comforter set from Wal-Mart. The picture above the bed was from Dennis' grandparents (Mattson's) home, and the driftwood lamp is one he made for them when he was little. The lamp and the nightstand I found when going through stuff for the garage sale. Love how they look here. At the end of the bed is the organ bench from his Grandpa & Grandma Marks' home. 
I so enjoy having these little pieces of them out where we can enjoy them.

Hat of Beans - Day 95 (September 2, 2013)

Kids were out picking what they could from our small garden. 

Made me smile when Joe came in with a fire chief hat full of green beans!

Grammie Moment! - Day 94 (September 1, 2013)

Transitioning to being a Grandma while still having little ones has been a little weird for me. 

Am I Mom? Am I Grandma? Am I doing the best I can at both roles? 

Who knows? (and does it matter?)

While having trouble waking up from a nap I just went and found some chocolate to give to Logan. Just to make him happy. 

Would I have ever done that with my own kids? I don't think so. 

It totally felt like a Grammie moment!

Happy Girl - Day 93 (August 31, 2013)

At some point during the garage sale we looked over and found Ruby had toddled over to the toy section and was contentedly playing away with her uncle's cast-offs. 

So sweet.

Heading Down the Road - Day 92 (August 30, 2013)

Not a great picture, but the best I got. Here is our van loaded to the hilt with treasures for tomorrow's garage sale. Seats down, filled top to bottom. 

Can't wait to bring the van home empty, one way or another!
Having this much less stuff floating around makes me very, very happy!

School Prep - Day 91 (August 29, 2013)

Spent the day making lesson plans for the upcoming school year. Decided Seth and Beka each needed some sort of PE log. After spending way too long surfing the web looking for what I wanted to download, and not finding it, it was time to attempt using Excel. 

I have a love-hate relationship with Excel, 

I love its potential, but it seems to hate me. 

So...

 The following left me feeling hugely accomplished.
Mock me if you will - I am a very happy camper with my finished project! 

                              

Toy Store Wall - Day 90 (August 28, 2013)

I often drive by this wall on a toy store in town. 

When I take time to process it is there and what it says, 

it never fails to make me smile.

Finished Quilt - Day 89 (August 27, 2013)

Here is a quilt I started many, many years ago. (July 2005 to be exact) It was a mystery quilt. I am not crazy about it, but I don't hate it. I started hand quilting it when the top was done, but never got far. 

Earlier this year I decided to 'unquilt' it and have it long-arm quilted. 

My awesome long-arm quilter did a great job on it. 

And as of today the binding is done. 

The quilt is DONE. 

Such an amazing feeling! 

I was determined to not spend any money on this project other than the quilting itself. So ended up piecing the backing. The quilt blocks are from some I did quite a while ago that have never found another home. 

Loving the way it turned out!

Another Story - Day 88 (August 26, 2013)

Caleb can make stories out of all different thing in many different places. 

Here he is using a variety of small toys and game pieces, all set up on the treadle machine in the entry way.
One picture just was not enough.

Private Katy - Day 87 (August 25, 2013)

This weekend was probably the last time we will see our neice/cousin, Katy, before she heads to Parris Island, SC for USMC boot. 

Bizarre to see someone I have known since the moment she was born heading off for train to protect our country. 

Uncle Dennis and I are proud of you Katy!
(and I can't wait to post of pic of you in your Dress Blues!)

Kimmy Baby Belly - Day 86 (August 24, 2013)

So exciting to celebrate new life. 

It was fun to have a baby shower for my niece Kimberly to help her prepare for the October arrival of Kyler.
Love this picture of the mama to be and the new grand-mama to be!

Auntie Sonja - Day 85 (August 23, 2013)

Caleb has been counting down the days until Auntie Sonja and Uncle Keith were coming over. 

Literally. 

He has been making x's on my calendar all week. 

Today was the day. 

Took the opportunity also to get a picture of myself with 'Auntie Sonja' - 

she and I have been friends... 

for a very long time. 

Cars and Cutting Mats - Day 84 (August 22, 2013)

Along with yesterday's picture. Went to my sewing table where my cutting mat along with rotary cutting supplies are set up and found a parking lot! With one of my longer rotary rulers being the bridge from the table 'next door'